June 8, 2012

The Police Department has taken 40 vacation days from a detective who was charged with downgrading robbery complaints and filing them as lost property in a Brooklyn precinct, the Voice has learned.

Det. Woody Barrington, a 17-year veteran assigned to the 72nd Precinct in Sunset Park, lost the vacation days for classifying three complaints as lost property even though the victims had told him they were robbed. Barrington was also accused of failing to take a robbery complaint, and failing to enter a report into the NYPD’s computer system.

The case emerged from the NYPD’s Quality Assurance Division, the office which audits the crime statistics and investigates allegations of tampering. In a relatively quick outcome for the PD’s administrative process, the case was referred to department prosecutors in June and resolved earlier this year.

What interesting is that theoretically Barrington could have been charged with a crime–filing a false report–but the NYPD chose to keep the case in-house. We have asked police spokesman Paul Browne for an explanation, and will update if we get one.

We are also waiting to hear from the Detectives Endowment Association, which represents Barrington.

The Voice’s 2010 series, The NYPD Tapes, delved into downgrading of crimes in Bedford-Stuyvesant’s 81st Precinct. The precinct commander was transferred and charged, along with five other officers.